Micro Influencers / Brand Ambassadors, The Ticket To Brand Success?

An influencer is an individual who has a large following on social media and can therefore influence potential buyers by promoting or recommending brands.

A brand ambassador is someone that is hired directly by a company to represent the brand in a positive light with the objective of increasing brand awareness and sales.

Companies can now look to find everyday people with a large social media presence to talk about a product as if they were talking to their friends.  This helps the brand to build up trust with the audience and with trust comes sales. Also, up and coming influencers don’t tend historically to have the same price tag as hiring a celebrity.

As this route to market becomes ever more popular for advertisers the target audience will ultimately become less trusting of the influencers motives and there has been a wave of influencer audiences who have started to find mistrust in the sponsored content and have therefore looked to smaller or ‘micro’ influencers for realistic reviews of trending products.

As with all digital evolution just as you get to grips with how the concept works the innovators have moved on, according to an article by Barrett Wissman via Forbes:

Interestingly, when they become ‘too popular’ they begin to lose credibility. This may not always be the pattern if the influencer keeps to their original principals. When they have such a loyal following, they can pick and choose their brand partnerships based on what their followers’ opinions and interests. Having this type of influence and being this close to your customers is what every brand wants to have.   This ‘sweet spot’ for influencer revenue seems to be where advertisers are now trying to target.

We did some basic research on this subject and found the following:

The conversions of micro influencers to sales can potentially be far more effective for your business when you are using specific influencers who have a genuine interest in what your company is selling.

E.G A sports company will index higher on conversion to sales/awareness if they’re using a self-proclaimed sport enthusiast with a dedicated following of people who are also interested in sports products.

In theory this will deliver a highly targeted campaign relevant to the micro influencer’s followers.

Companies also need to be aware that using a very well-known influencer, who may be reaching a wider audience may not lead to as many sales, it may generate more awareness but also far more wastage and only a small percentage of that audience may have an interest in what your company sells.

For in-depth insights into how your campaigns are performing start with a by contacting us today. We have helped many brands from a wide range of industries reach their full potential through auditing their advertising.